


Ye Canna Dwell On It

by thatsoccercoach



Series: Which Door? [27]
Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Family Fluff, Gotham's Writing Workshop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 19:12:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13864194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsoccercoach/pseuds/thatsoccercoach
Summary: Jamie is caring for the girls while Claire is at work when Bree has a minor incident.





	Ye Canna Dwell On It

                                                       

Just days ago Claire had been home with the girls while Jamie was on duty at the fire station. It was how things worked in their family. He worked four days off then four on. Claire worked when he was at home or his godfather could come watch the girls. Family was their priority and they both made sacrifices in their professional lives to make certain they could be present for these formative years in the lives of their daughters. Both of them felt immeasurably blessed to have their unexpected little family.

Now it was Jamie’s turn to stay home with their two little blessings who played in the kitchen, blissfully unaware of the concerns that he was trying to deal with right behind them.

“Murtagh!” he hissed to his godfather who was out running errands and had Jamie on his car’s speaker phone. “I dinna ken what to do about this though.” He glanced covertly at the girls, making sure they weren’t bothered by the intensity of his conversation with Murtagh. “If Claire calls she’ll know something happened. She always knows things like this. I dinna want to worry her!” Jamie shook his head. Thankful though he was for his children, he was nearly ready to pull out his hair. Today had been one of those (thankfully) rare, chaotic ones where at the very moment that you had one issue addressed, another one cropped up that was even more… disconcerting.

Jamie knew Claire had been tired, exhausted even, over her last few days with the girls and without him. They’d often discussed that there were times when she felt trapped. As much as she loved her time with the children, she occasionally struggled with feelings of isolation as well. Jamie could understand where she was coming from, standing in her shoes now. Getting out of the house with two small children posed many challenges. Getting out of the house with Bree alone was like going into battle!  Neither of them would trade it for anything, but it didn’t make things easy in the moment.  He’d called Claire each night to talk to her just so she wouldn’t feel alone though the reality was their two girls never left her alone in actuality.

He hadn’t left them alone just now. Not really. He’d taken a quick shower. He should have anticipated disaster.

“Come now lad,” Murtagh’s voice cut through the frustration and building alarm in Jamie. “Ye are canty enough to figure somethin’ out.” He began to laugh in that rough, rolling chuckle that made Jamie want to join in. Later. When things were fixed. “I seem to remember ye doin’ something similar when ye were a wee lad!”

“What did my mam do? Please, Murtagh!” Desperation tinged his voice. He couldn’t help himself. Claire probably wouldn’t have let this happen and she would very likely kill him where he stood if she found out. No, it never would have happened if she was in charge. “Please, man, ye have to come over and help me!”

“Aye, I’m already coming over. Are ye so riled up that ye thought I’d leave ye to deal wi’ it alone?” He chortled.

Jamie sighed in relief and ran his free hand over his face, “Thank ye for coming, Murtagh!”

Help was on the way.

* * *

Faith sat at her child-sized table, in a child sized-chair and still her legs dangled as she swung them lazily back and forth. She was completely preoccupied with a coloring page and crayons arranged in rainbow order. Brianna, on the other hand, was the center of attention. She was plopped down, sitting in the middle of the kitchen table, Jamie on one side and Murtagh on the other.

“There’s no help for it lad. She’s stuck the peas up her nose and they aren’t coming out wi’ out some assistance,” Murtagh said, bushy eyebrows raised.

Bree continued to prod at her nose, most likely lodging things up even farther.

Jamie snatched at her hand quickly. “No more Brianna,” he intoned, quietly but firmly. Looking back at his godfather he asked in exasperation for what seemed like the hundredth time, “Then what ought we to do about it. We canna just leave them up there.”

“Ye canna dwell on it, Jamie. Just call Claire and see what she wants you to do. ‘Tis no use hiding it from her, as ye said. She’ll ken somethin’ is afoot and she’s likely the only one who can fix it at any rate.” He shot a dark look at Brianna who already had her finger back up her nose while simultaneously still managing to look completely innocent.

“I’ll text her and let her know we’re coming in to the hospital. I’d rather see her face to face and tell her that I let our lass shove bits and bobs up her nose than call and tell her over the phone,” he sighed in resignation.

* * *

Claire intercepted them in the cafeteria at the hospital. Even in scrubs Jamie was certain she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. Her curls were jumbled up in a pile atop her head and her cheeks were just the tiniest bit flushed a rosy hue. “How are my lovies?” she queried, holding her arms open wide and kneeling down to welcome her daughters into a hug. “And my husband?” She rose, holding Bree, to give him a kiss.

“We’re actually here for medical assistance,” Jamie mumbled. “I figured I’d rather just ask you than wait til ye came home.”

She quirked an eyebrow at him inquisitively. He found that attractive too. And distracting.

“Aye, um, weel, I went to shower and when I got out, Bree, the wee fiend, had climbed out of her crib and had stuck Faith’s peas from snack time up her nose and I couldna-” he was mid-sentence when a dark look crossed his wife’s face.  He had not expected that. She abruptly turned and marched Bree off down the hallway leaving Murtagh and Faith at a table sharing a cookie and Jamie, dumbfounded, deciding whether he should go or stay. He went.

He caught up with Claire handing a now-squalling Brianna off to her friend Joe. Faith adored Joe and his wife Gail but Brianna was holding a grudge against him for some unknown reason. Apparently Claire didn’t care about that at the moment.

She turned back to look at a confused Jamie and to his surprise, she was struggling to hold back laughter. “I’m so, so sorry Jamie.” She choked out between giggles. “The day before yesterday while you were at work Bree shoved some raisins up her nose!” she snorted in a cross between disgust and amusement. “I got them out but I told Joe that he’d be playing ‘bad cop’ if ever she did it again.” He joined her in laughter at that point.

“The lass has a mind of her own and woe be to anyone who tries to stop her from gettin’ what she wants, be it raisins or peas! We have our work cut out for us wi’ that one for certain.” He held his wife close as he felt the amusement roll through her frame before she stilled and settled closer. “I didna think you ever had things like this happen. And,” he paused and searched for words, “I sometimes I think my own da would have kent what to do in similar situations. Sometimes I doubt that I am a good enough at this.” She leaned into him still, thinking.

“Jamie?” her voice softened.

He held her away just the tiniest bit in order to look down at her whiskey-colored eyes. “Aye, Sassenach?”

“I love you,” she whispered. “And you are a wonderful father. Don’t ever doubt it.”

He did dwell on that.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by Gotham's Writing Workshop over on Tumblr. If you want, you can find me (and all my fluffy stories!) there as well!
> 
> https://thatsoccercoach.tumblr.com/


End file.
